Land for remains blessed, broken (Cav Troopers)

Sierra Vista Herald/Bisbee Review ^ | Bill Hess

[SandRat]

SIERRA VISTA — The first step in the reburial 70 soldiers of the late 1800s took place Wednesday at the Southern Arizona Veterans Memorial Cemetery during a ceremony attended by Arizona’s governor and the senior commander on Fort Huachuca.

The exhumed remains of the soldiers will be brought to Sierra Vista next year from a long-abandoned cemetery in Tucson. Their final resting place will be among more modern veterans.

“We’re very honored that we can be the final resting place for them,” Cemetery Administrator Joe Larson said, noting the reburial occurs May 16.

Larry McKim, president of the cemetery foundation, said many people have worked hard on the project, specifically pointing out Life Scout Jacob Lovorn and Mike Rutherford, president of the Southern Arizona Contractors Association.

“He raised thousands of dollars for the project,” McKim said of Lovorn, as the Boy Scout waited with others to symbolically turn a shovel of soil.

As for Rutherford, McKim said he is working with other area builders and contractors to do some of the work for free.

The state provided $25,000 for the project, and the city of Sierra Vista provided $30,000.

During the ceremony, the Rev. Greg Adolf of St. Andrew the Apostle Catholic Church blessed the ground for the Historic Soldiers Relocation Project. Asking divine support for the area where the remains will be buried, the priest first recited two verses of “America the Beautiful,” followed by prayers and the sprinkling of the area with holy water.

Besides Lovorn, Larson, Rutherford and McKim, turning over shovels of dirt were Gov. Janet Napolitano; Maj. Gen. John Custer, commander of the Intelligence Center and Fort Huachuca; Joey Strickland, director of the Arizona Department of Veterans Services; Sierra Vista Mayor Bob Strain; and Sierra Vista Herald/Bisbee Daily Review Publisher Phil Vega.

Herald/Review senior reporter Bill Hess can be reached at 515-4615 or by e-mail at bill.hess@svherald.com.

[KKing]

Thanks for posting this. I’m here in SV and this is an event I’m very proud of.

[rivercat]

Halfway down the trail to Hell,
In a shady meadow green
Are the Souls of all dead troopers camped,
Near a good old-time canteen.
And this eternal resting place
Is known as Fiddlers’ Green.

Marching past, straight through to Hell
The Infantry are seen.
Accompanied by the Engineers,
Artillery and Marines,
For none but the shades of Cavalrymen
Dismount at Fiddlers’ Green.

Though some go curving down the trail
To seek a warmer scene.
No trooper ever gets to Hell
Ere he’s emptied his canteen.
And so rides back to drink again
With friends at Fiddlers’ Green.

And so when man and horse go down
Beneath a saber keen,
Or in a roaring charge of fierce melee
You stop a bullet clean,
And the hostiles come to get your scalp,
Just empty your canteen,
And put your pistol to your head
And go to Fiddlers’ Green.

If you ain’t CAV, you ain’t s***!